Wild boars are giving farmers sleepless nights in Odisha's Ganjam district by destroying standing crops in Rangeilunda area.
The affected farmers have requested Forest and Environment Minister Bikram Keshari Arukh for compensation in the wake of attacks by wild boars which roam in herds and enter farmlands in search of food and water.
General Secretary of Kalinga Krushak Samaj Binod Thakur said farmers of Digipur, Boxipalli, Narayanpur, Alipur, Bikrampur, Biswanathpur, Kamalapur,Golabandh, Hatipada, Kirtipur and Laudigaon villages are the worst-hit.
Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Berhampur, S S Mishra said his office is yet to receive any joint inquiry report by forest and revenue officers about the damage to crops.
"We will recommend compensation once we get the report," he said.
The DFO suggested that the state government declare wild boar and monkey as vermin (nuisance animals) to permit their culling in Chhatrapur and Patrapur blocks respectively, where the animals are a menace but the proposal is yet to get the government's nod.
"Farmers, who had cultivated vegetables, sustained heavy losses. If the government does not compensate them, they will be forced to give up farming and migrate to other states in search of work," Krushak Samaj President K Bhagirathi Reddy said.
A delegation led by Reddy submitted a memorandum to the Forest Minister during his recent visit to Chhatrapur. "The minister assured that he would look into the matter and discuss it with forest officers," said Reddy.
The Wildlife Protection Act prohibits killing of any wild animal.
